From Boardroom Strategy to Courtroom Scrutiny

This article examines how strategic climate litigation is reshaping the governance of airlines, with a particular emphasis on the judicial interpretation of open norms, including the duty of care, proportionality, and human rights obligations. Drawing on landmark climate cases in the Netherlands, it traces a trend of expanding legal scrutiny of the aviation sector across multiple areas of law. It also considers diverging judicial approaches and their implications for airlines. The analysis underscores the increasingly blurred boundaries between regulatory, judicial, and stakeholder influence, raising broader questions about who governs the airline in an era of climate accountability.